Baseball Falls To Illinois State 4-3

With two outs and runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth inning, Jeremy Accardo got Josh McCanne to strikeout looking, as Illinois State hung on to defeat the Gauchos 4-3, in the opening game of the Johnny Quik Classic at Beiden Field in Fresno.

Kevin Miller (2-2) takes the loss for UCSB, who falls to 11-10 on the season. Miller pitched six innings giving up four runs, two earned, on five hits and three strikeouts. Sean Thompson pitched three shutout innings in relief of Miller.

Kyle Zaleski (1-0) gets the win for the Redbirds, who win their first game of the season and improve to 1-6. Zaleski pitched seven innings, yielding two runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out three. Accardo gets the save for Illinois State.

Brad Howris led the Redbirds at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a RBI and run scored. All seven Illinois State hits were singles.

The Redbirds got a run in the second and two in the fourth to take an early 3-0 lead.

UCSB came back in the bottom of the fifth when Andy Campanella smacked a double into the left-center gap, scoring Cook and Sutton to make it a 3-2 ballgame.

Illinois State tacked on another run in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead, which they would have until the ninth.

In the ninth, with one out, Sutton got the Gauchos started with a single to left center. After a Campanella walk to put runners on first and second, Dave Licht grounded out to move the two runners to second and third with two outs. The Redbirds then intentionally walked Ryan Spilborghs, who went 1-for-3 on the day, to load the bases and bringing freshman Malec to the plate. Malec promptly delivered a single to left driving in Sutton, to make the score 4-3. That brought up McCanne, who struck out to end the game.

UCSB will return to action tomorrow March 12 when they take on Gonzaga in day two action at the Johnny Quik Classic at Beiden Field in Fresno. The first pitch is tentatively scheduled for 4:00 p.m.